Janette Fecteau
Janette Fecteau is an artist and poet from Antigonish, Nova Scotia. She attended St. Francis Xavier University, studying batik, stained glass, and weaving with Iris Delgado-Roach. She also work in watercolour, having attended workshops with various artists, including Anna Syperek and Nancy Stevens. Janette is a graduate of UBC’s Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing (May 2008).
Growing up on the Northumberland Strait, Janette developed an appreciation for the changing forms, colours, and textures in nature. These are reflected in her work in various media. She has a lifelong interest in many forms of textile art, and has been working with natural fibres such a wool, cotton, linen, and silk, using tactile and visual textures in concert. Janette’s travels to Nepal, India, Europe, England, and Guatemala have exposed her to many fibre traditions, including weaving, tapestry, and batik. Batik has been used since ancient times for clothing design in many parts of the world, notably Africa, China, India, and Indonesia. The flow of wax and dye over and through the surface of the cloth creates a feeling of fluidity and movement, while batik’s unique crakle effect gives the impression of age, of fluid movements frozen in time. Janette uses these qualities of the medium to capture her local landscape and traditional ways of life in her area.
Janette teaches batik and stained glass at St. F.X. She enjoys working with students, helping them to develop the techniques of these unique media and seeing their individual creations take shape. Her work has been shown at the St. F.X. Art Gallery’s annual Faculty Show, the (formerly) GAPACC Tall&Small Show (Eastings location), and at Stage 2 (Festival Antigonish). Her poems have appreared in Carousel, The Antigonish Review, Event, Isotope, Knock The Pottersfield Portfolio,and Shout and Speak Out Loud: Atlantic Canadians on Child Sexual Abuse, as well as various chapbooks. She has read her poetry at numerous readings in Antigonish, Vancouver, and Halifax.
